I don’t have a tremendous amount of time to blog this morning– I’m on a rather tight schedule for today and am also suffering from the Head Cold of Doom– but when I saw this TTT topic, I couldn’t resist jotting my list down really quick. 🙂

And the books are…

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. This book is a classic for me, and definitely something I’d want to be reading if there was a disaster 😀

Wild Magicby Tamora Pierce. Ideally, I’d be able to save all my Pierce books, but if I had to pick just one, it would be this one.

Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones. I love the humor in this book, and the romance, and just… pretty much everything about it.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. Best steampunk I’ve read in a while.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stoneby JK Rowling. Again, I’d prefer to save all of them, but this particular copy has sentimental value.

The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan. I just love this book too much– from the moment Nick Ryves popped his head and his sword out from under the kitchen sink, I was hooked.

Drink Slay Loveby Sarah Beth Durst. Best vampire book EVER.

White Cat by Holly Black. This copy also has sentimental value– it has been signed and doodled in by Black herself!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Again, signed copy. Also, the most emotionally wrenching book I’ve ever read.

My audiobook copy of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. Because awesome story + Neil Gaiman’s voice= unforgettable.

What books are in your top ten? Feel free to link me to your post or let me know in the comments!

So, this is the first in my Love Week series of posts, and since it is Valentine’s Day and this is a mostly book-focused blog, I thought I’d go ahead and make a list of my favorite book pairings of all time. However, I wanted to do something to make these posts kind of special, so I thought, why not make a video to go along with it?

Without further ado, allow me to present : Can You Feel the Love Tonight? Favorite Book Pairings (Of All Time and In No Particular Order)

Beka Cooper and Farmer Cape (Tamora Pierce’s Mastiff):Beka and Farmer are a recently new addition to my favorite pairings list. When Farmer first showed up, I thought for sure that he and Beka would never get along, but by the time I was halfway through the book, I was rooting for them wholeheartedly, and I cheered when they finally got together. Farmer is such a sweetheart, and Beka deserves to have a lover who will a.) not crowd her and b.) still show her kindness.

Alec and Seregil (Lynn Flewelling’s Nightrunner series): This relationship starts out a friendship, and that is something I appreciate very much. It’s two or three books before they even kiss, and another short story before they have a sexual encounter, but the slow-burning tension and tenderness between them is palpable from the beginning. Despite the later books taking a much darker turn, Alec and Seregil stay very sweet and beautiful– friends in love, and bonded for life. Me like. 🙂

Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace Lancaster (John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars): And this pairing, which makes me completely incoherent 95% of the time. They are tragic, they are sweet, they are PERFECT. That is really all that needs to be said.

Daine Sarrasri and Numair Salmalin (Tamora Pierce’s Immortals series): I’ve come to the conclusion that Tamora Pierce has been almost solely responsible for raising my expectations in men. Numair was one of my first “book crushes”, and when I read Emperor Mage for the first time, I realized that there was a pretty real chance that Daine was kinda smitten with him too. As a pair, these two have a lot working against them: the age difference, the fact that Numair was a serial womanizer until he settled down with Daine, Daine having her own issues to work through. However, they manage to make it work. 🙂

Alec and Richard (Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint):This pairing is definitely my favorite of Kushner’s. The dynamic between these two is by turns amusing and heartbreaking, and this is possibly the only pairing to ever make fish romantic. 🙂

Cassel and Lila (Holly Black’s Curseworkers series): Here’s one for the angst. Cassel and Lila’s star-crossed romance is complicated by emotional manipulation, Cassel’s lost memories, and the fact that it appears they will be on opposite sides in Black Heart. I’m still holding out hope for a beautiful ending for them, though.

Jem Carstairs, Tessa Gray, and Will Herondale (Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices series): Yes, I know. This is a triangle, not a pairing. But I couldn’t resist, simply because I love them so much and — if I were pressed– I would say that the only good ending for ALL of them would be… well, being less of a triangle and more of a threesome. I sincerely doubt that will happen– this is YA after all– but a girl can dream.

Howl and Sophie (Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle and sequels): Howl and Sophie are the least romantic couple ever, but their sparring and playful romance (followed by an equally playful marriage) is dear to my heart. The movie plays up the romanticism of their story, but it’s still a lovely thing, in my eyes; they have seen the worst of one another and they love each other anyway. 🙂

I knew going into The Fault in Our Stars that this was going to be one of those books that had me completely raw and broken at the end. Even so, I was not prepared for how thoroughly John Green did this—and I loved every second of it.

Hazel Grace Lancaster has been terminal since she was thirteen years old. Whether she would die was never a question; now, with the “miracle drug” Phalanxifor shrinking her tumors and keeping her cancer under control, the question is when she will die. Hazel’s reaction to this is not unreasonable—she sinks into torpor, watches tons of America’s Next Top Model, reads her favorite bookand waits.

Then, she meets Augustus Waters, gorgeous Survivor with a capital S, and slowly but surely, she begins to fall in love.

Overall, this story is a beautiful one—life affirming, even, despite the death which hangs over so many of the character’s heads throughout the course of the book. The characters are very real and very raw; they are not the stereotypical “brave” cancer patient that Hazel details at several points in the book. They are brave, for sure, but they are also broken, afraid, lonely, and angry. Not a single character in this book is spared from the harsh reality of the ending—even the non-sufferers are affected, just as is the case in real-life cancer cases. And at the very heart of the story, there is a romance between two doomed children who haven’t really had the chance to experience life, and who are determined to do so one way or another. Mixed in with all this bleakness are sparkling moments rather like the titular stars, the hilarious and heartwarming blended smoothly with the darkness and blood and Hazel Lancaster’s struggling breaths. John Green has definitely crafted a book for the ages here, and there is not a person in this world that would not benefit from reading it.

(NOTE: I usually have a Pros and Cons section to my reviews right about now—however, for the purposes of this book, I have had to retitle these sections Things That Made Me Laugh/Aww and Things That Made Me Cry, since a.) I couldn’t really find any cons and b.) when I tried to they all ended up falling into the latter category. )

Things That Made Me Laugh/Aww

Hazel’s voice. She’s funny in a dry sort of way, and the way she perceives the world is very interesting.

Hazel’s obsession with An Imperial Affliction. I think any reader can relate to this sort of love for a book.

Isaac.

The romance. There are so many wonderful moments between Hazel and Augustus throughout the book, with my very favorites being on the plane to/from and in Amsterdam.

The Anne Frank House. Best scene ever.

Hazel’s diagram for Augustus after their “night” together in Amsterdam.

Van Houten showing up to Augustus’ funeral.

Things That Made Me Cry

That Hazel blames herself for causing the people around her to suffer.

Van Houten being a douche.

Gus’ recurrence. I pretty much cried through the last 70 pages.

The scene on page 244 with the G-tube, when Hazel has to call 911. At this point I was literally bawling.

And then again, pg 247 when Hazel is reading him poetry and just starts adding words.

I’ve had a pretty awesome week as far as books go. My PaperBackSwap membership has started paying off, with books that I don’t want leaving the house at least once a week, while ones that I do want trickle in. It’s helping me keep my book budget down, which in turn allows me to buy more new books. Which is awesome, considering that there are SO MANY great books coming out right now!

Without further ado, allow me to introduce you to one of the aforementioned awesome new books, which was released exactly ten days ago:

How to describe The Fault In Our Stars? Well, if you haven’t heard of it or read it or gotten your hands on it at some point in the last ten days, then you are missing out. My usual Pros and Cons review notes have been tentatively re-titled Things That Make Me Laugh/Aww and Things That Make Me Weep, Sniffle, and Cry Like a Baby. I’m not going to say much more, because I’m over halfway through and will probably have my review up early next week, and also because I don’t want to spoil this book for ANYONE. If you’re questioning whether or not you should pick up this book, my answer is unequivocally “Yes.” Even if you don’t like “sad” books. Even if you “don’t read” YA. Even if you’ve never read a John Green book before. GET THIS BOOK.

It’s one of those books that simply demands to be read.

TFiOS has kind of been dominating my thoughts recently, obviously, but I’ve also received a ton of other interesting/awesome/fun-looking books recently, courtesy of fellow users of PaperBackSwap and the wonders of Amazon.

I’ve been waiting to pick these two up for ages, and when I found them on PBS, I decided it was about time that I snagged them.

TFiOS (and yes, that is a signed copy sticker on there– I took a picture of that too :D) and Paranormalcy, which has been recommended to me by several people including the lovely adkwriter15. (I figured I might need that one as a feel-good once I got done with TFiOS– just in case the worst happened/happens.)

I’ve heard great things about Kleypas’ historical romance, and I’m a devoted fan of Bones, so these were kind of a no-brainer for me.

What great books have YOU gotten your hands on recently? Have/are you read/reading TFiOS? Feel free to comment and let me know!